- Hal Jackson
Harold B. "Hal" Jackson (born November 3, 1915) is an
African-American disk jockey and radio personality who broke a number of color barriers in American radio broadcasting.Jackson grew up in
Washington, D.C. and attendedHoward University . Jackson began his broadcasting career as the firstAfrican-American radiosports announcer , broadcasting Howard’s homebaseball games and localNegro league baseball games.In 1939, he became the first African American host at WINX/Washington with "The Bronze Review", a nightly interview program. He later hosted "The House That Jack Built", a program of
jazz andblues on WOOK.Jackson moved to New York in 1954 and became the first radio personality to broadcast three daily shows on three different New York stations. Four million listeners tuned in nightly to hear Jackson’s mix of music and conversations with jazz and show business celebrities.
In 1971, Jackson and Percy Sutton, a former Manhattan borough president, co-founded the Inner City Broadcasting Corporation (ICBC), which acquired
WLIB-AM -- becoming the first African-American owned and operated station in New York. The following year, ICBC acquired WLIB-FM, changing its call letters toWBLS ("the total BLack experience in Sound"). Today, ICBC -- of which Jackson is group chairman -- owns and operates stations in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Fort Lauderdale, Columbia, S.C. and Jackson, Miss.Now in his 90s, Jackson continues to host "Sunday Classics" on WBLS each and every Sunday, although instead of the usual 8am-4pm hours, he is now on air from 12 noon till 4pm each Sunday with Debi Jackson and Clay Berry.
Jackson was inducted into the
Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. He was given a Pioneer Award by theRhythm and Blues Foundation in 2003.External links
*rhof|id=218|name=Hal Jackson
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
